Time and Chance

Part 1: Time and Chance Happens to them all

One afternoon as I was having lunch at a staff canteen my boss and colleague TBC came to me and said "You know what young man, success is very simple it is just doing the right thing, the right way at the right time." From that statement I understood that life or success in life can be defined by looking at the three facets of life that is

●       purpose (the right thing)

●       character and competencies (the right way)

●       timing (the right time)

Considering that I feel it is important to understand the time aspect of life. With that in mind I feel the book of Ecclesiates is the best book to teach us on the time element as it has so many scriptures relating to time and use of time.

Ecc 9:10  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Ecc 9:11  I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Ecc 9:12  For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Ecc 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

This year as I was celebrating my birthday, I just took a retrospect into the last few years which I have lived in my life. What is so special about that birthday celebration is that I believe that I was being ushered into another level of life. With that in mind I thought it would be nice that I share with friends some of the lessons I have learnt about life and the approach I am now taking. This I honestly believe will drive us to the next level.

The Word of God in Ecclesiastes indicates that there is something special about how we use our time and understanding times. What I understand from this statement is that the success of a man in any field is underpinned on time and opportunities how we use the two.

When we talk of time it is important to realise that time can be defined by two Greek terms which are Kairos and Chronos. An understanding of the two terms will make us develop in our understanding of time

 Kairos - the right, opportune or seasonal time (the supreme moment).

 Kairos refers to the right time, opportune time or seasonable time. It cannot be measured. It is the perfect time, the qualitative time, the perfect moment, the “now.”  

Kronos (Chronos) - time as chronology; tick-tock time.

It is measured, or chronicled, by clocks, hours, minutes and seconds. It is the time in which we make appointments and face deadlines. It tends to be more of a taskmaster than a friend. We schedule our lives by it. Most people speak of never having enough of it as we race around the clock to make sure we maximize the time. 

Considering the seasonal (kairos) aspect you need to realise that there is a season for everything on the earth as written in Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1 "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." This makes it clear then that in life it is important to understand the seasons of life and act accordingly.

However it is also important to capture the measured time aspect and do what is supposed

to be done in that specific season. You need an element of time management (Knonos) in

order to redeem the available time and not let seasons pass by without you having done a

thing.  Ecc 9:10 “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no

work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”

The sons of Issachar factor

1Ch 12:32 " And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment."

There is something about the sons of Issachar which we need to learn and do as well.

1.       Knowing the times (Kairos moment)

The special thing about the sons of Issachar is that they had an understanding of the times. It is usually a problem in our lives when we do not know the seasons that we are in. It is like when you are in winter and you put on summer dressing, you will suffer from the cold.

I believe it is important for us to know the seasons in or personal lives, marriages, family lives, cities and communities. When you know the season you are in you can at least be at an advantage. According to Robert Kiyosaki those who make it in life and those who will be rich, are not those who look for solutions, but those who look for problems then solve the problem. It is not those who say what is it that is making people rich, but those who will say what problems are people facing in this season. They will then come up with solutions which the rest will take up after some time, and say this is what is making people rich when they will have made money already.  So in a season look for problem associated with the season and solve it and you will be successful and be a significant.

In the season of social networks everyone is making gadgets which are compatible with social network platforms in order to make it. Even churches are now very active on the Social Networks.

Churches which have an understanding that this is the season of the miraculous and the prophetic are the ones which are growing significantly. The moment a ministry or a minister does not understand the spiritual seasons they may as well become obsolete. Even the Word of God speaks of new songs and prophetic words and seasons, just to show that seasons change.

We need to be people who understand the seasons that we are in just like the sons of Issachar. Understanding or knowledge of the seasons normally comes by revelation. That revelation brings understanding or knowledge.

When it comes to understanding the times there are many ways we can understand the times but I will look at one of the ways which is given in the book of Chronicles.

• II Chronicles 20 verse 20 "And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." Believing in His prophets shows that the men of God can give us a word which can makes us prosper. I believe this is because they can see upfront and they make us plan as according to the future coming seasons.
• Revelation from God. If we are prophetic people i.e. men and women who hear from God we can also be able to hear what God is saying about the times to come.

2.       Knowing what has to be done. (Chance or Opportunity)

The other thing is that the sons of Issachar knew what Israel ought to do. After knowing the times we need to be people who have an understanding of what has to be done by both us and those around us.

It is not enough to know and understand the season that you are in or that is coming. But you also need to be people who have to know what has to be done in that season. This unlike the Kairos timing calls not only for revelation and understanding but for wisdom. Having known that this is winter you need to know that both yourself and the people around you have to put on winter wear.

As ministers of the Word, business people and leaders in any facet of life for you to be a relevant leader you need to have the wisdom to understand what has to be done at any given time. When a season appears you need the wisdom to see the ministry, business or leadership opportunities associated with the season at hand.

Take time to think what you can do in the prevailing season.

Neh 1:3-4 “ And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province

are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof

are burned with fire.  And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and

mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven “

You will discover that after prayer and fasting Nehemiah saw an opportunity to rebuild the wall of

Jerusalem and thereby lead the children of Israel in an assignment.

 3.       Taking Action (Kronos Timing)

I believe for it to be recorded that the sons of Issachar understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do is because they took some action. The action they took can be given in two forms that is,

●      It is either they acted according to the times and season such that people realised that these guys understood the seasons. This is what I call informed action. They say "action speaks louder than words."

●      Or they passed on the message of what has to be done to Israel according to the season. This means that the sons of Issachar acted as heralds of the messages of the times and the plans and actions to be done in the period and times.

People who operate on this level are men of action. They believe in doing thing and not just in talk. However you will see that these men and women are also in three groups.

a)      Those who act.

These are men who will take action whenever need arises. As soon as they see an opportunity they pounce on it. We see this in David. An opportunity presented itself before him in the form of Goliath and he took action (killed Goliath)

b)     Those who act through others.

These act as heralds but because they are now established they will have other people act on their behalf. We see this in Moses as he sends the twelve to spy in the land of Canaan. He saw an opportunity to act but he acted through other people but the result would be his result.

c)      They have someone who sees the opportunities and act on their behalf.

These are men and women who will have people to do the work of seeing revelation and acting on their behalf. We see this in the life of Pharaoh. Pharaoh had a revelation of a season to come but did not understand it and have the wisdom to deal with it. He therefore employed Joseph to do that for him and the success of the nation obviously established Pharaoh as a world power.

Conclusion

As the word of God says we need to be people with an understanding that time and chance happen to them all. The way you will understand the seasons, see the opportunities and act based on the times and seasons in a planned and organised way, will be proportional to the success that may come your way

Living in His Word

 Grad de Munya

Seed to The Sower

The mindsets of receivers


“Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness”. II Corinthians 9:10.

When God created man, He gave man a commandment to be fruitful. I believe this is right at the heart of God, since it was one of His first commandments. When we talk of being fruitful we cannot ignore the seed element. I strongly believe then, that God gave everything to man in the form of seed. Which then implies that most of the things we have are in seed form and small, and all of us can access that seed. This seed can be in the form of ideas, thoughts and even faith.

However when we look at what we call successes or significances in the world today we are simply observing the fruit (products of the seeds and the efforts of man). For example most of us have heard the folktales (ngano) from the times we were very young being recited by our grandparents and parents, but anyone who will make effort to put those folktales down can come up with a good book which can actually place that person on a national map and of course a fatter pocket.

So many ideas pop up our minds daily, but very few of us are willing to follow them up. Usually those very few are the ones who will make it in life.

We need to realise that a fruit is always a product of seed and work. However everyone desires the fruit and the seed is usually available very close to us. The challenge is usually what we are going to do with the seed in our hands.

The source of every fruit is seed. Without a seed there is no way we can talk of a fruit. The seed will then produce a fruit after work has been done on it. For example: -

■fruit of the womb (seed from male and the work of the womb)
■fruit of the ground (seed from the plants and work can be from man who sows and waters)
■fruit of your hands (seed can be idea and work of the hands)
■fruit of your tongue (seed can be an idea and work is speech)
■ fruit of your mind (Seed is idea and work of the mind thoughts)
■fruit of the spirit (the Word and work of the spirit in character development)

Every time there is a fruit realise that there was a seed and work to produce the fruit. An idea comes in mind as a seed idea, when a person spends time to think about the idea, the work of the thought process can produce a sermon, speech, lecture, books and the like which is the fruit of the mind, or computers, vehicles light bulb which is the work of the hands.

Considering the following scriptures
Isa 55:10-11 "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: , So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

Mat 25:24-26 "Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed."

Whenever man receives seed which could be an idea or a salary he will eat, keep or sow the seed. Therefore I can group people in the following three groups:-

1.The Eater
2.The Keeper
3.The Sower.

Background
Considering Isaiah 55 the Word of God says the rain when rain comes down on earth it brings bread to the eater and seed to the sower. The Word of God is also compared to the rain and the snow when it comes down. This simply implies that when the Word of God comes to the earth it will like the rain create a watering effect on the seed that will be on man’s heart. I believe the seed could be in the form of faith, healing, prosperity and the blessings or promises of God. Using the idea of bread and seed, let us, for this discussion use our seed as the wheat seed and bread which is a product of the wheat seed. When the rain comes it will cause the wheat plant to grow and thus produce the wheat fruit which can be used for two things:-

■Crushed into flour for bread
■Dug into the ground as seed

From the above analogy you will realise that there are two people who will deal with the product of the wheat plant.

Looking at the parable of the talents, you will realise that there are also two types of servant. The first two servants who sowed the talents they were given and the other servant who kept the talent. This servant I will call the keeper, who is the third type of a person. So from the two scriptures we can come up with three mindsets that are:-

1.The Eater
2.The Keeper
3.The Sower

1.1. The Eater
This is the person who when s/ he receives the fruit will think consumption. This is the person who will spend what he gets on very small things like clothing, food and drink. If the seed comes in ideas you will see this being a person who is always bragging about how he thinks and is very knowledgeable. The qualities of an eater are:-
■The person is not worried about the future but the present.
■The person is worried about their appearance and how they are perceived by others. They want to be seen as rich people, intelligent people, anointed people and very good people.
■These are self centred people.
■They do not give but they only want to receive.
■Consumption mindset
■Finds it difficult to give but always want to receive.
■Is always seeking to be prayed for to receive miracles and prophetic words but do not work out their salvation on their own.

1.2. The Keeper
This is a person who when given a talent or seed keeps that and does not even try to use it. These are people who are talented but are afraid to go out and try out new things. They only want to live a stable and secure life. You will quickly notice the keepers by the fact that they are looking for a stable career, a house and a car. With that you are rest assured that a keeper will be happy. One other thing about keepers is that these are people who want to keep the status quo. The qualities of a keeper are as follows:-
■The person wants to keep a certain life standard.
■The person is concerned about having a stable acceptable standard in personal life, ministry and the workplace.
■The past standards and the way others are living give a measure of achievement to the keeper.
■He wants to say at the end of the day I have done an acceptable work. If given a church with 200 people maintaining the flock will satisfy the pastor, if a business is making a profit of $2 million maintaining the profit will be the keeper’s goal.
■The keeper is driven by maintaining the standards.
■The keeper is afraid of taking risks.
■He has a production mindset.
■Maintains a certain giving level (Tithe and certain level of offering) that he is not comfortable to exceed.
■In ministry this is a person who will exercise faith on for his miracles.
■You will always hear the keeper speaking of savings.

1.3. The Sower
The sower will instead of eating or keeping what he has, he will sow it. What this means is that given a bag of wheat the eater will mill it into flour and bake bread for consumption, the keeper will keep the bag of wheat as it is but the sower goes to the field to sow. From the harvest that is tonnes of wheat he will then get a portion for consumption and keep a bit for future consumption and will return to the field again to sow a bigger portion this time around. He will continue the process until he has a very large piece of land under wheat. He is always thinking of increasing his capacity to produce more. Reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki I got an understanding that a house is not an asset, such that given you have get an sum of amount instead of buying a house you would rather opt for investing the money or start a business and then buy a house or car using the profits. That is the sower mentality. You will notice that a sower is a person who will always be looking at developing his leadership base by teaching and impartation in ministry, concentrating as many vehicles of investment as possible in business and is a liberal giver. He gives more than the expected. A sower can be seen to be a person who
■Is focused on the future.
■Who considers delayed gratification.
■Eats from the fruit of the seed and not the seed.
■Considers his salary as seed and not for consumption.
■Focuses on business and investments.
■Has a reproduction mindset.
■Wants to understand how to move in the miraculous so that he can also pray for others.
■Is always looking for problems to solve for the betterment of others’ lives.
■The sower’s language constitutes of investments and businesses.

Conclusion
It is very important however to realise that you cannot be an outright sower but there are some eater and keeper tendencies in us all. However the level of sowing will separate the losers, the successful and the significant in every area of life.

Eating always sustains the life that is without eating life and health may suffer, but that does not warrant consuming the whole seed. Keeping brings about stability and security which is essential for each and every one of us but it is not to be the highest point of our life for we were created to sow

Sowing at the end of the day will bring forth what to eat and a stability that is needed. So we would rather spend time and resources in the field and when the harvest time arrives we will come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves. At that moment you will also have to get back to the field and sow again.

Let us meet in the field of the Divine Marketplace.

LIVING IN THE WORD





God bless you.







IN CHRIST